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Clothing is currently the single largest online retail sector, estimated to be worth 26 billion dollars a year in the U.S. alone, yet only 7% of clothes bought online. The fact that consumers can try on clothes before buying also results in a very high rate of returned merchandise (over 40% for certain types of equipment wash) and associated costs for retailers. Fits.me aims to reduce returns and increase sales by allowing buyers to see clothes on a mannequin with precise objectives of the buyer's body. It does this by means of robot-mannequins with artificial muscles that can simulate the shape and size of any organ.I currently Fits.me allows only male robot mannequins, but a female version expected by the end of sommeren.Fits.me is one of the 20 (mostly European) startups pitching in TheNextWeb conference begins rally in Amsterdam this week. The company started a year ago in Estonia, and robotics technology comes from Estonia Tallinn University of Technology. The mannequin robots may take up to 100,000 different body types, but in practice many fewer than this are necessary because people tend to get a more limited variety of shapes and størrelser.Fits.me working with a German company called Human Solutions which provides a database of the most common body dimensions taken from 3D imaging of tens of thousands of people. A selection of target shapes chosen for the robot. Not every garment in every size must be physically tested on the robot. Instead sizing samples placed on the robot for each of the target body types, and the result is photographed. On average you need four clothing from a fire to establish sizing. Big brands such as Gap will have 10-15 fit tests. Most clothing brands have four-7.Når a buyer wants to see a size on his own body shape are mathematical algorithms used to manipulate the most similar image of the robot. This is combined with information on the physical properties of the garment and how it takes on the form (some materials are more clingy or elastic than others) to show the user a simulation of the garment on his kropsform.I an attempt by a German retailer, rose Fits.me sale three times and reduced returns by 28%. The company just signed UK shirt maker Hawes and Curtis as its first commercial customer. Fits.me get a percentage of revenues from salg.Selskabet seem to have no direct competitors, although there are plenty of companies that provide styling and sizing advice (see figure left). Based in Estonia Fits.me launched in May 2009 and has funding of € 1,300,000 through a combination of EU research grants and private finansiering.Næste Story: Meet the mastermind of the HP Palm: Todd Bradley Previous Story: Apple drops Mac apps from design awards Chicago Steak Company had a problem that many online retailers share. The steak and seafood vendor offers products of high quality for an amazing price points. But if you have not noticed a lot of companies sell steak online. Want to drive traffic Toits website, increase visitors and reduce the cost of customer acquisition took Chicago Steak his simple Google AdWords campaign mangler.Mærket need help both to identify and handle larger amounts of keywords. Finally last year, it began working with a third party to help make their search strategy more grain. The result? Lower cost per acquisition, boosted traffic to its website and increased sales. I spoke with Matt Crowley, corporate vice president, to find out how they did it. What is your most important questions your company branding in search? We are aware that consumers have a wide range of possibilities, but we indignantly own proud of our product and guarantee that our steaks are the finestepå all ways of marbling for packaging. We age our steaks in mindst28 day and guarantee every box with a registration number to bekræftedette promise of topkvalitet.Hvis you Google "steak" you will find companies such as Omaha Steaks, Kansas City Steaks and Allen Brothers. We use a variety of ways to make Chicago Steak Company online. Some of these include CPC, CPA, e-mail marketing, affiliate marketing, contests, social networking, SEO, discounts and tilbud.Hvad with free shipping? We understand consumers' perceptions of shipping costs when shopping online. It is because of this that we have done everything we can to meet and even exceed customer expectations when it comes to shipping. We offer several free shipping promotions throughout the year to encourage new customers to try our products.What was your approach to search last year? It was confusing. We sell a popular product to a wide audience. There are thousands of relevant keywords, and we tried to gather them all under one campaign. Furthermore enabled have multiple campaigns and ad groups us to capitalize on cost savings offered by Google (keywords in adcopy etc.) When did you decide to go to a third party agency to help with search? What was the outcome? In the third quarter of 2009. Comparing February 2010 to February 2009, we were able to increase our conversion rate by over a procentpoint.Hvordan did you do that? We were really surprised how much of an effect to get more granular with keyword clustering had on our results. We saw an increase in both quality performance and CTR. We were also able to take advantage of Word Stream negative keyword tools to cut out wasteful consumption, increasing our negative keywords with 300%! This in turn will reduce our cost per conversion significantly, allowing us to turn our goals per konvertering.Har results meet your expectations? What we were looking for in a solution really was to streamline workflow PPC, while the transparency of the account. Word Stream gave us the opportunity to do this because of the way they manage keywords and propose an architecture for the account. It was very hard to do it manually because we were not sure how to take the data Google gave us and put it into a structure that made sense. Because Word Stream uses JavaScript to capture new search queries in real time, we were able to compare new data with what existed on the account. It really made a difference.

In 2006, water bottle consumption reached a record high of 8.3 billion gallons, and over 11 billion dollars was spent on bottled drinks. Drinking equivalent to eight glasses of water now recommended by physicians and practitioners worldwide, and now more than ever you see people walking, shopping, holiday and all work with a water bottle in his hand. There are a lot of companies that produce bottled water, whether they are in trendy bottles, they are distilled or they come from a spring. There are several types of water, marketed in the day than you would think. Although it is a great thing that people drink more water and are more concerned with their well-water from a bottle is actually a very negative thing for our environment. Typically you would think, since water bottles are normally plastic, it is not a problem because the plastic can be recycled. But the most important factor that theory is that the plastic bottles actually make it to a recycling center. Many people throw their bottles into the garbage in their homes or on the street. In fact, only 5% of plastic waste recycling in the U.S. right now. Nalgene, a creator of outdoor water bottles and water containers systems has created a new campaign titled: Refill Not Landfill. The campaign aims to reduce disposable water bottle waste by using a reusable Nalgene bottle, or any other recyclable beverage unit. Nalgene estimates that if every person in New York City has selected a reusable water bottle for a week, would be 24,000,000 bottles will be saved. The costs not only create the bottles, but also the cost to transport that water to shops all over our country are much higher than the cost of transport of water through our water systems. Also, it is important to consider that while you try to drink more water to stay healthy standard of water is also a factor. Water from the tap test should be reported to the local municipalities whereas bottled water test results are not. While a bottle of water claims to be clean and crisp, there is a good chance that water comes directly from a tap somewhere. Some people can justify their water bottle consumption based on the quality of water they receive in their area. It may not be suitable to drink from the tap, so that consumers choose to buy bottled water for themselves and their families. A much more economical and environmentally friendly solution is to install a reverse osmosis system in your home. The water you drink is filtered, and sent to a separate spout typically installed on or near your kitchen sink. Filters must be replaced every year or so, the cost is really not so significant compared to the cost of bottled water requires environment.The Refill Not Landfill campaign designed to raise money for Native Energy foundation that helps to create Native American , farmer-owned and community renewable energy systems. A limited edition Nalgene bottle is available, where all revenue goes to this foundation. Nalgene also invites everyone to take Refill not Landfill promise on their website (www.nalgene-outdoor.com) for a week, a month or a year. Nalgene bottles are designed for long life and the great thing about them is that they do not absorb odors or flavors. This means you can put other beverages than water in your bottle and you will not taste it or smell it for the next month. The bottles are almost indestructible, and will not break if dropped or overturned. You can buy limited edition bottle from Nalgene website for $ 10 Other bottles found on the website and various retailers nationwide.